VALIATHURA, southern India, 23 November 1947 – It was like any other balmy Sunday evening at the beach in this fishing community.
Shrieks of laughter pierced the evening air as children played by the seaside while fishermen rested after a day’s toil. Nearby, small cargo vessels were moored to the busy Valiathura pier.
At about 5pm a cry rang out when someone noticed a large steamer drawing closer to the pier. Now, this was unusual as vessels of that size would not approach the shallow waters near the pier and instead would anchor further away in deeper waters. A crowd raced to the pier, which protruded into the sea, to catch a closer glimpse of the approaching steamer, the SS Pandit.
And then tragedy struck: the vessel rammed into the side of the pier shuddering and grinding to a halt. The pier swayed and then collapsed, the sickening crunching sound of iron, wood and rail tracks mangled with the screams of panicked port workers and petrified children, falling into the sea.
A steam crane on the pier tilted, lost balance and fell into the sea, its driver George Chettan jumping out just in the nick of the time. But others were not as fortunate. At least 18 people perished, among them 12-year-old Apu, younger brother to my father Eric, who was away in college. Full article on Aliran website
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https://youtu.be/5JGojn-YO1M
Constitutional Monarchy
Mahathir cautioned that certain rulers may use such power for their own interests, rather than their states.
“This is what happens if we give absolute power to the rulers. They may put their own interests before their states. It has happened many times before,” the premier said, pointing to history, from the Malay rulers ceding their states to the British, and the “selling off” of Singapore to the British.
According to Mahathir, this is the reason why the rulers are not given executive powers.
Dr M: Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, not absolute
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/04/10/dr-m-malaysia-is-a-constitutional-monarchy-not-absolute/#C76QcFiV0fhpDlQR.99
What are we taught by our Sejarah on this matter? Prof KKK must now step forward to clarify to rakyat.
This is a hot topic right now.
Wonder what is Anil’s opinion on the matter.
Should federal law supercede state law?
A 2015 Open Letter to Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim
https://www.malaysiadesignarchive.org/an-open-letter-to-professor-emeritus-tan-sri-khoo-kay-kim/?print=print
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir urged Malaysians to change their mindsets and increase their productivity to prosper in life.
https://www.thestartv.com/v/malaysians-should-increase-their-productivity-says-tun-m#oQScDMjeIvVzOCeq.99
Minimum wage must tie in with productivity gain, not just the cost of living. Else there is no ‘real’ wage increase. Hopefully the socialists can understand this.
all socialist countries fail miserably until they embrace free market economy…time for NGO/penang forum to wake up to realities …enough of sweet dream…hehe
Malaysia needs to move from input-driven growth to productivity-driven growth to achieve a sustainable economic growth path, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir.
The country’s growth, he noted, had been predominantly input-driven through the injection of capital and labour into the economy.
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2019/04/19/pm-malaysia-must-move-to-productivity-driven-growth/1745049